Stormy Petrels lead by Guilford by 15 shots

By Chris Miller-Prep Sports Writer

Published: Sunday, March 24, 2013 at 06:00 AM.

Owen and Maccaglia said Oglethorpe doesn’t get fazed by bumpy starts.

“It’s the experience we got the last couple of years,” Owen said. “Four of our guys played here last year and three guys played here two years ago. So they understand how difficult this place is, depending on the weather. This group can start slow, but can finish it off. They have the maturity.”

And what does Maccaglia think of his team’s composure?

“The fact we have played in this tournament multiple times…, we all know what to do on this course,” he said. “We need to stay patient. We have stayed patient and we made our putts, which we have been doing all year.”

If you’re a golfer in the Intercollegiate, it also helps keep the pressure down when you are pro-am partners with Marines.

“You hear stories playing with the Marines,” Maccaglia said. “It’s just incredible and you get a different perspective on life. I had a couple of 5-footers today and I just thought about those stories and I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Maccaglia leads the individual competition by one shot over
Guilford
’s Drew Thompson (70-66—136) and two shots over
Guilford
’s Noart Ratner (72-65—137).

One school record was followed by another for Oglethorpe in the Intercollegiate golf tournament at Paradise Point aboard CampLejeune.

Coach Jim Owen said his Stormy Petrels broke the school mark on the Scarlet course with a round of 263 on Saturday, which allowed Oglethorpe to be the leader heading into today’s final round of the 42nd annual Intercollegiate.

On Friday, Oglethorpe shot a 285 on the Gold course, which Owen said was a school mark for that course.

“Everybody stayed patient and kept the gameplan to hit greens and to let the putter win it or lose it for us,” Owen said.

Now, Oglethorpe has put itself in a position to win the Intercollegiate for the first time since 2007. The Stormy Petrels also won in 2002 and ’04.

“It was an unbelievable effort,” Owen said. “We wanted to hit 75 greens. When you do that, you are going to make a lot of birdies, which we did.”

Actually, Oglethorpe hit 74 greens, made 21 birdies and one eagle.

The Stormy Petrels are led by sophomore Maccaglia at 72-63—135. Maccaglia, the reigning NCAA Division III individual national champion, leads the individual field at the Intercollegiate.

“I stayed patient just like the team and I never got ahead of myself,” Maccaglia said. “I just played solid. I have been swinging good all year and it is nice to keep it going in this tournament.”

Hayden Jones (71-67—138) and Brandon Bear (71-68—139) have also played well for Oglethorpe.

Still, Owen is looking for a complete round today from all of his players.

“We haven’t played a complete 18, but that will be the goal (for today),” Owen said. “For the second day, we got off to a slow start. The back nine (of Scarlet) is the easy side, and you would have thought we would have gotten off to a great start. But on the harder front side, we put the hammer down, with some help with some pretty good weather.”

Owen and Maccaglia said Oglethorpe doesn’t get fazed by bumpy starts.

“It’s the experience we got the last couple of years,” Owen said. “Four of our guys played here last year and three guys played here two years ago. So they understand how difficult this place is, depending on the weather. This group can start slow, but can finish it off. They have the maturity.”

And what does Maccaglia think of his team’s composure?

“The fact we have played in this tournament multiple times…, we all know what to do on this course,” he said. “We need to stay patient. We have stayed patient and we made our putts, which we have been doing all year.”

If you’re a golfer in the Intercollegiate, it also helps keep the pressure down when you are pro-am partners with Marines.

“You hear stories playing with the Marines,” Maccaglia said. “It’s just incredible and you get a different perspective on life. I had a couple of 5-footers today and I just thought about those stories and I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Maccaglia leads the individual competition by one shot over Guilford’s Drew Thompson (70-66—136) and two shots over Guilford’s Noart Ratner (72-65—137).